The Miami Dolphins’ draft-day poker face paid off in a big way amid new look at their trade with the Cowboys
The Miami Dolphins’ poker game helped them squeeze as much out of the 2026 NFL Draft as they possibly could.
The Miami Dolphins‘ 2026 NFL Draft effort will serve as the benchmark for draft efforts for years to come in South Florida. Miami established several trends for talent acquisition. It also established Miami as busy movers of the board.
There were two trades down and a trade up for the Miami Dolphins. And now, thanks to ESPN’s ‘The Pick is In’, we know that the Dolphins were also successfully able to posture their way to a bigger deal on the first trade down the board. Assistant general manager Kyle Smith was documented alongside Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan stiff-arming the Cowboys’ first offer for No. 11 overall.
The Miami Dolphins’ poker game helped pull extra value out of 2026 NFL Draft trade with Cowboys
“A five plus? No, we’re going to stay. We’re going to pick.”
Miami Dolphins assistant general manager Kyle Smith to Cowboys’ Stephen Jones
The Miami Dolphins, of course, did not ultimately stay and pick. They did, indeed, trade their 11th overall draft choice to the Dallas Cowboys for picks No. 12, plus 177 and 180 in the 5th-round. They were able to pull that extra bit of value out of their trade opportunity with the Cowboys. Dallas entered the 2026 NFL Draft with three fifth-round draft choices. They were 152nd, 177th, and 180th overall — and Miami collected two of them within the first dozen picks.
The fear of someone else conducting a trade with Miami ended up being an essential piece of the puzzle for Miami to pull two fives out of the Cowboys. Dallas owner Jerry Jones outlined
“I really didn’t think Miami, in this particular case, was going to draft (Caleb Downs). But I didn’t doubt a minute that someone else would come over and trade Miami out of that spot. And get (Downs) from under us,” said Jones.
Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has been emphatic that offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor was their guy all along. The investment around a new quarterback makes sense from that standpoint. So, too, does needing to fortify the line of scrimmage. But the Dolphins were able to offer just enough unknown while also being positioned in the right spot in the order to help facilitate a trade.
Playing hard ball with Dallas early on in their negotiation ultimately yielded extra fruit. And Miami got their guy they wanted all along.
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